Water Protective Overshoe for Heels and Flats

ABSTRACT

A water-resistant overshoe is disclosed. This overshoe is designed to be worn over the wearer&#39;s shoe and has a front and a back extendable means such as a gusset, a series of convolutes or ruffles, or similar structure, that can expand to accommodate a range of shoe styles with a range of heel heights. In one preferred embodiment, a securing means, such as a belt, is located near the opening of the overshoe that can largely close the overshoe around the wearer&#39;s ankle.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

Applicant claims priority to Non-provisional application No. 61/600,938 filed on, or about, Feb. 20, 2012 entitled “A plastic covering with front and back gussets to be worn over woman's shoes of different styles and heel heights to protect the shoes from moisture.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The subject matter of this application relates to protective overshoes such as those worn to prevent the wearer's shoes or boots from becoming wet or damaged by water produced by inclement weather.

The overshoes disclosed in this application preferably have a textured, or similarly treated, external sole portion, and a securing means that reversibly holds the opening of the overshoe closed. However, the predominant feature of the herein disclosed overshoes are the presence of at least one extendable section located on the back of the overshoe, and preferably, another such extendable section on the front portion of the overshoe that allow the overshoe to cover a wide range of shoe styles and shoe heel heights and thereby protect those shoes from the problems associated with water.

BACKGROUND

As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow famously noted in his poem, The Rainy Day: “into each life some rain must fall.” Without any disrespect meant to Mr. Longfellow's work, it could be added that “and you'll have to walk through it.”

The subject matter of this application relates to overshoes or galoshes. Over the years, many devices have been used to varying degrees of success to prevent a person's footwear from being directly exposed to the environment. These devices may be rather complex systems with multiple straps and bindings, or, on the other end of the spectrum, may be little more than a plastic bag cinched around the wearer's ankle.

The complexity, and the structure of the overshoe depends, in part, on the hazards the wearer expects in contact. Most people may never expect to walk in anything more damaging than a few inches of rainwater, so their overshoe may reflect an appropriate level of risk mitigation (i.e., be relatively simple as long as it is water-resistant). Others may need to walk through much deeper streams, greywater, blackwater, or even potentially harmful chemicals. Those overshoes are designed to withstand those particular rigors.

A number of overshoe designs are known in the art. The following is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of prior art patents, but merely demonstrative of the types of patents in the overshoe art. Certainly, other art exists.

One example of a design well suited for more abusive environments is U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,915 describes an overboot comprising a sole and tubular portion, and certain retaining means.

Two issued patents that disclose something similar to an archetypical galosh are U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,192 to Egtvedt and U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,960 to Hoyt. Egtvedt describes an overshoe having at least one deformable invagination that presses against the wearer's foot to hold the overshoe in place. Hoyt discloses an overshoe held in place on the wearer's foot with a hook and loop type fastener.

A overboot for a walking case is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,706. To accommodate a cast, this overboot has front and rear vertical longitudinal zippers that allow the calf portion of the overboot to open widely. The overboot also has expansion gussets, parallel to the zippers, that allow the snugness of the boot to be adjusted around the wearer's calf. U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,509 describes a style of overshoe that comprises a series of horizontal pleats that can be compressed to allow of easier shoe-insertion, and released so that the pleats return to their relaxed state, which extends over the wearer's ankle.

Most men's shoes are of a fairly standard basic shape, and therefore, most men would likely be able to protect their shoe collection with a single overshoe. In contrast, women's shoes are a much different subject. There may be no such thing as a standard women's shoe as an almost limitless array of heel shapes exist. Women, therefore, have a much more difficult problem if they wish to use an overshoe to protect their footwear from the elements.

Some overshoe art attempts to address the issue of heels and how they can be protected from adverse elements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,556 describes an overshoe having a general shape complimentary to a certain style of high-heeled shoes in which the heel portion comprises an extending means to accommodate a range of heel heights. Although not quite a galosh, U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,122 discloses a shoe cover, appropriate for heels, that can change a shoe's appearance and also provide some protection to the shoe.

Although each of the above mentioned designs will protect certain types of footwear from the elements, none accommodate a range of footwear styles, particularly heels.

SUMMARY

The subject matter of this application are overshoes comprising a sole, an overshoe portion, an ankle or lower calf portion, a back extendable region, a front extendable region, and a securing means.

Previous overshoe designs may only accommodate a few common shoe designs and do not address the range of women's shoe styles.

The disclosed overshoe can fit over a wide range of shoe styles and heel heights due to the extendable regions extending as necessary to accommodate the position of the heel of the wearer's foot as determined by the angle of their instep and the thickness of the sole of their shoes.

The overshoe disclosed in this application can accommodate several of the most common shoe styles such as pumps, flats, French heels, kitten heels, platforms, stilettos, and wedges. Further, slight adjustments in the depth of the overshoe could produce an overshoe that would offer the same benefits to platform shoes or clogs.

In most preferred embodiments, the overshoe also comprises a reversible securing means that holds the overshoe in place.

The overshoes slide over the wearer's shoes by placing the shoe-bearing foot into the opening of the overshoe. As the foot, and thereby the shoe, are pressed into the overshoe, the back extendable means, and the front extendable means extend as necessary to accommodate the unique position of the wearer's heel within the overshoe, and to accommodate structural features of the shoe itself. To accommodate a wide range of shoe heel heights, as well as to provide protection against standing water or from water splashing into the overshoe, an ankle portion, continuous with the overshoe portion extends at least as high as the user's ankle.

Once the wearer's foot and shoe are comfortably seated within the overshoe, the opening may be closed around the wearer's ankle or calf through use of the reversible securing means.

It is a primary objective of the subject matter of this application to provide a protective overshoe that can fit over a wide range of shoe heel heights and shoe designs. It is a further objective to provide a overshoe that is reversibly secured at, or near, the overshoe's opening to hold the overshoe in place, and also to interfere with water or debris entering the overshoe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the front of one of the disclosed overshoes.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the back of one of the disclosed overshoes.

FIG. 3 is a top view of one of the disclosed overshoes.

FIG. 4 is a view of the side of a disclosed overshoe facing out from the midline of the wearer.

FIG. 5 is a view of the side of a disclosed overshoe facing towards the midline of the wearer.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a woman's flat shoe (in dashed lines) inside of a disclosed overshoe.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a woman's low heel shoe (in dashed lines) inside of a disclosed overshoe.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a woman's high heel shoe (in dashed lines) inside of a disclosed overshoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following description and drawings referenced therein illustrate an embodiment of the application's subject matter. They are not intended to limit the scope. Those familiar with the art will recognize that other embodiments of the disclosed method are possible. All such alternative embodiments should be considered within the scope of the application's claims.

Each reference number consists of three digits. The first digit corresponds to the figure number in which that reference number is first shown. Reference numbers are not necessarily discussed in the order of their appearance in the figures.

This application discloses an overshoe comprising a external sole portion (101), an shoe-covering portion (102), an ankle or lower calf region (103), a front extendable region (104), a back extendable region (201) and a securing means (106).

The inner surface of the shoe-covering portion and the inner surface of the external sole portion define a space in which the user's shoe-bearing foot fits when the protective overshoe is in use. In a preferred embodiment, this space is large enough to accommodate shoes with soles up to 0.75 inches high. Adjustments can be made to the design of the overshoe to accommodate higher platform shoes.

In a preferred embodiment, the front extendable region is a gusset having a bottom (107) and a top (108). The top of the front gusset (108) is normally closed at rest, but can open 4 inches when outward pressure is applied. The gusset may narrow towards the bottom of the front gusset (107). Similarly, the back extendable region is a gusset having a bottom (202) and a top (203). The top of the back gusset (203) is normally closed at rest, but can open 4 inches when outward pressure is applied. The gusset may narrow towards the bottom of the back gusset (202). As used herein, a gusset is a piece of material, often of a rhomboid, parallelogram, or triangular shape that is tucked into the protective overshoe. In this matter, the gusset is largely hidden within the protective overshoe when no lateral force is applied to the area of the overshoe's ankle or lower calf region, but when such lateral force is applied, as would be the case when putting the overshoe on over a shoe, the gusset allows the expansion of the overshoe's ankle or lower calf region to accommodate the shape of the wearer's shoe. In a most preferred embodiment, the gusset is continuous with the protective overshoe. This not only increases durability, but it also reduces manufacturing costs since the external sole portion, the shoe-covering portion, the ankle or lower calf region, the front extendable region, and the back extendable region can be manufactured as a single piece.

Other designs of the front and back extendable regions may include ruffles, pleats, or other designs, such as regions of expandable materials. These should all be construed as falling within the disclosed design. Further, the measurements given above for the maximal expansion of the extendable regions should not be considered limitations of the claims.

In a preferred embodiment, the shoe-covering portion (102) is continuous with the ankle (or lower calf) region (103). The ankle region extends up on the wearer's leg away from the foot to a point at least as high as the malleolus protuberances. Near the top of the ankle region is a securing means that can secure the protective overshoe to the wearer. One embodiment of this securing means is a strap or belt (106) that is threaded thorough a belt loop (105) on the protective overshoe. In this embodiment, a buckle, or similar device (109) is used to secure the belt, either to itself, or to the side of the protective overshoe contralateral to the belt loop (105). Certainly, other securing means are apparent to those familiar with the relevant arts. For example, instead of a belt, a drawstring could be used to secure the protective overshoe; and instead of a buckle holding the belt, a hook and loop type fastener could be use. Such minor variations should be considered within the presented claims. 

I claim:
 1. A overshoe comprising a sole portion, an overshoe portion, an ankle portion, a back extendable means, and a front extendable means. Said front and back extendable means capable of expansion to accommodate the shape of a wearer's foot and shoe when worn.
 2. The overshoe of claim 1, further comprising a securing means.
 3. The overshoe of claim 1, wherein the back extendable means and front extendable means are gussets aligned vertically to the approximate horizontal midline of the overshoe. said gussets having a apex located along the top of the ankle portion capable of expanding by least 3 inches, said gussets also tapering to a lower vertex located at least above the sole portion.
 4. The overshoe of claim 3, further comprising a securing means.
 5. The overshoe of claim 2, wherein the securing means is comprised of a belt that fits through associated belt loops located along the upper edge of the overshoe portion so that tightening the belt and latching it causes the overshoe to be held in place over the wearer's foot and shoe.
 6. The overshoe of claim 4, wherein the securing means is comprised of a belt that fits through associated belt loops located along the upper edge of the overshoe portion so that tightening the belt and latching it causes the overshoe to be held in place over the wearer's foot and shoe. 